'UPFRONT with Mike Gousha' recap for Dec. 2

-- Incoming Assembly speaker Robin Vos told Sunday’s "UPFRONT with Mike Gousha" that requiring a photo ID for voting will be a priority in the upcoming legislative session.

“Having photo ID is something that is broadly supported by the public. It is something that I really hope we will have in place by the next general election,” he said about the law that has been hung up in the courts.

But Vos said he didn't think having photo ID would have made a big difference in the 2012 presidential election. However, he said he does want to make the process easier and quicker to avoid long lines on Election Day. He added a swipe at same-day registration, under fire from many Republicans.

“When you go in for same day registration many times people show a bill that doesn’t even have a date on it,” he said. “So how do we know that the person has been a resident for 28 days?”

Vos, R-Burlington, also said a main priority is growing private sector jobs. Vos wants to put a mining bill back on the table and thinks a bill can be ready this spring.

Vos said he's open to constructive criticism from Wisconsin Mining Association head Tim Sullivan and state Democrats. “My hope is we will at least start with that (Joint Committee on) Finance version that had pretty broad consensus and see if we can move that forward with some potential tweaks,” he said.

-- Also on the program, produced with help from WisPolitics.com, state Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Tony Evers discussed public schools

“School districts are hurting financially… the (Wisconsin) Taxpayer’s Alliance showed that [Act Ten] made up two-thirds of the cutbacks. The other third came out of programs,” said Evers, up for re-election in April.

Despite the opposition to Act Ten, Evers said he has an “obligation”to find common ground with Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

“We have had all sorts of initiatives we have been implementing over the last three and a half years [including] implementing new state standards on English and the language arts and changing our assessment system. I have worked with the governor on reading issues and accountability issues,”

However, the bottom line with Evers is that schools need funding.

“Other costs go up every year, utilities, transportation, supplies for schools,” he said. “Everything has a trajectory that is usually on the up. We need to reinvest in our schools.”

-- Gousha said Gov. Scott Walker, who promised to create 250,000 jobs in four years, needs his party not to freelance and focus on jobs-related legislation.